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mitchell

Mary A. Mitchell biography

Mary A. Mitchell is an editorial board member and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. She is a recipient of numerous journalism awards, including the prestigious …

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  • Parents need to know  teams’ motel situation

    In case anyone is still confused, it is never OK for adult coaches to sleep in the same bed with minors. “If an adult is sleeping in bed with a 16-year-old, I would recommend that somebody call the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services …Read More

    • Facebook turned teen girls’ rivalry into school brawl

    MARY MITCHELL: Teenage girls have always gotten into squabbles over teenage boys. But today, the explosive mixture of hormones and immaturity is being supplanted by nasty exchanges on Facebook and Twitter. All it takes is a provocative “status” or an in-your-face “tweet” and it’s on.

    Justice slower for black woman than for dog

    It has been 40 days since two men in white collared shirts knocked on Martinez Sutton’s door and told him his 22-year-old sister, Rekia Boyd, had been shot. “Are you Martinez Sutton?” “Yes. What is the problem?” “Are you the brother of Rekia Boyd?” “Yes.” …

    Presenter at ‘America Healing’ conference takes on elephant in the room

    NEW ORLEANS — As the man at the reins of a city that will forever be remembered as much for a national disaster as it will be for its honored place in the world of jazz, it was Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu’s duty to welcome …

    School that took kindergarteners for jail visit missed the point

    On Thursday, Hillside Police Chief Joe Lukaszek defended his department giving the kindergarten class of Sunnyside Elementary School a tour of the police department last Monday. When 6-year-old Stephen Stovall told his mother and grandmother his class had been locked in a jail cell, they …

  • Family upset field trip to library gets 6-year-old placed in jail

    MARY MITCHELL: At 6 years old, Stephen Stovall has seen the inside of a jail. But not because he did anything wrong. Stephen’s kindergarten class was taken to jail at the Hillside Police Station on Monday as part of a field trip organized by a teacher at Sunnyside Elementary in that western suburb — a field trip parents were told was to be a visit to the library. Now, some of those parents are upset.

  • Smoking out iffy Fire Dept. policies

    I don’t blame the president of the African-American Firefighters and Paramedics League for being concerned about the latest training class at the Chicago Fire Academy. After all, the welcome mat hasn’t always been out for black firefighters, a circumstance that has played a role in …Read More

  • Eddy Curry’s ex-wife on abuse charges: ‘I discipline my son with love’

    The VH1 reality show, “Basketball Wives,” makes being linked to an NBA basketball player look glamorous. But Korie Kellogg, the ex-wife of the Miami Heat’s Eddy Curry, would say it’s not all that it is cracked up to be. “Absolutely not. I’m always watched because …Read More

    • Calling inner-city scholars

    It seems like almost overnight, the housing development along 39th Street, between King and Cottage Grove, was leveled and its residents dispersed. Nonetheless, the Jacob Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies, at 700 E. Oakwood Blvd., remains a beacon for urban pioneers. On Wednesday afternoon …

    Kim Kardashian? Say it ain’t so, Kanye

    Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Say it ain’t so. How could the person who uttered the infamous indictment of President George Bush during Hurricane Katrina — telling the whole world Bush didn’t care about black people — hook up with a white woman who black …

    ‘Tangled’ playwright calls out President Barack Obama

    ‘Tangled” Playwright Nicole Anderson-Cobb knew she was stepping on some toes by having a character in the play rebuke President Barack Obama. The play is currently being performed at eta Creative Arts Foundation on the South Side. It examines the ongoing gun violence in some …

    MARY MITCHELL: Chicago has its own Trayvon Martin-like scandal

    MARY MITCHELL: At a time when the shooting in Florida of Trayvon Martin is drawing supporters from across the country, Chicago has its own shooting scandal. Like the Trayvon case, nothing about the 2005 shooting of Howard Morgan makes sense.

    Art mirrors life in eta play, forcing us to confront violence

    I was on my way to the South Side Thursday night to attend the opening of “Tangled” at eta Creative Arts Foundation, when I heard about the latest shooting on the South Side. “Six shot, 1 killed at a South Side Store,” the headlines read …

    What Trayvon was wearing is overshadowing the real issue

    Who would have thought that the lowly hoodie would become the symbol of a national movement against racial profiling? On Wednesday, Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) got himself kicked off the House floor for wearing a hoodie. Rush was standing in solidarity with protesters who …

    What if Trayvon’s killer doesn’t face any charges?

    Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) called me Monday to let me know that Robert Lucas, the founder of the venerable Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, had died, and his funeral would be at Rainbow/PUSH. “There’s been an oversight. Bob dedicated all of his life to improving his …

    Both became McDonald’s employees, but one now is CEO, other sits in jail

    Don Thompson’s inspiring success story affirms something that too many of us have learned the hard way: If you want your child to succeed in this world, you must make sacrifices. Last week, McDonald’s Corp. announced that its CEO, Jim Skinner, is retiring and Thompson …

    Social media can act as watchdog for injustice

    By now, most young people know about the deadly shooting of Trayvon Martin by a self-styled community watchman in a gated community in Florida. Even without the phenomenon of social media, Trayvon’s story had all the elements of a talker. Trayvon, 17, is black. The …

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